Chapter 17 [ Decisions ]

[The screams ran from one ear to the other.

I completely ignored the man in front of me.

I turned around and swung as fast as I could towards the Times Square.]

"NO...NO COME BACK!

IF YOU WANT VENGANCE THEN LET IT FEAST ON MY FLESH!!!"

[But I was already gone.

I held my tears back until I saw the ground covered in blood and fire.

Women who held their children.

Children, covered in dirt, who held their ears.

Men on the floor crawling in all directions because they lost their legs or arms.

Some people holding the remains of their loved ones.

It was horror.

It didn't take long take long before other heros arrived to.

Iron-Man, Captain America, Falcon, Vision, The Fantastic Four...

Even my team:

Iron-Fist, White Tiger, Luke Cage and Nova.

Everyone helped the people, who were buried under rubble,out.

Since there were too few ambulances for all the injured, Iron-Man and Nova flew the some of the injured to hospitals as quickly as they could.

Aunt May is a nurse.

She certainly will have her hands full.

I helped too but there was no time for any interaction.

I didn't talk to Iron-Man or any of the Avengers.

I didn't talk to my team either.

I was busy clearing the broken parts of the buildings from the street so that police cars and ambulances could pass freely until I heard screaming that sounded like an older lady.

She layed there covered in blood.

Her eyes were full of training and the bones of her broken leg were sticking out.

She must have put all her energy into her cry for help because when she looked at me, all she could manage was a quiet whisper. Nevertheless, I understood it as if she had screamed it at the top of her lungs in my ear.]

"Please...help me.."

[Filled with tears, I quickly picked her up.

I jumped up, swinging with one hand while holding the woman with the other, heading towards the nearby hospital as quickly as I could.

When I got to the hospital I opened the door and screamed as loud as I could:]

"PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!"

[Sisters came and layed her on a bed.

I took a last look at her before I left.

With each step I took towards the exit of the hospital, my bloodlust for the man that caused all of this rose.]

'Kraven..

Should I kill him?

I had a reason before that. I had to kill him to stop the bomb from going off.

Now I have no reason anymore. He has already detonated the bomb.

But why is the desire to kill him stronger now than before?

Is it revenge for all the people he has killed?

No...

That's not it...'

[I swung back to the Times Square...or whatever was left of it.

The situation has calmed down somewhat.

I landed on a building and took a good look at everything again.

Finally I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down.

I swung myself to the building where me and Kraven had fought but he had already disappeared.

So I kept swinging in the direction where "Black Cat" had brought "Daredevil" to safety.

It took a while but I found them both on a roof hiding in a, not obviou, but not a safe place either.

They probably weren't too worried about Kraven finding them because they were sure that I would defeat him.

With this thought, a slight feeling of

self-confidence enveloped my heart only for a brief moment, because I immediately remembered my failure.

I landed and saw Daredevil sitting there with his back leaning against a wall. He was fully conscious again.

Besides him a ruhed up but still gorgeus woman.

They both looked at me and I could hear their question even before they said anything.]

"Kraven had a bomb. He blew up the Times Square."

I didn't manage to look them in their eyes.

"Fuck...that bastard..."

she said.

"It was my fault.

I made the wrong decision.

If I would have killed him then none of this would have happened."

"No it's not...."

he answered while coughing blood.

"I was too weak to stop him alone...."

I finally was brave enough to in their eyes.

"What now ?"

The Cat asked.

"I don't know...but for now you two should rest."

I walked towards the man in the devil suit and crouched down in front of him.

"You need a doctor or you will bleed to death. Even if you reveal your identity and people will find out your real name, you will at least live."

"Nah... I already know a great doctor.

She will patching me up like she always does. Don't worry about me she lives around the corner."

"Let me at least help you get there or do you trust me that little ?"

He struggled to his feet and put his hand on my shoulder.

"As I said don't worry about me."

He smiled and walked past me ready to jump to the next building.

But before he jumped he said, while his back was turned towards me:

"I trust you Spider-Man.

Thanks for your help...

And thanks to you too Cat."

[And with that he jumped and disappeared into the jungle of the skyscrapers.

Spider-Man and Black Cat shared a moment of silence.

Until she broke it.]

"How many died ?"

"I don't know...thousend."

"And how did he detonate it?"

"The bomb was linked to his heart. Either I kill him and the bomb would not blow up or...I would let him live and yeah.

I took to long to decide.

And by the time I was ready to kill him it was already too late.

As I said...

I made the wrong decision."

"I know what it feels like...

I know that it feels like your entire life is hanging on certain decisions.

That moving forward feels terrifying because you don't want to make the wrong choice.

Because if you do, if you walk down this path and things don't work out, your entire life will fall apart and you will never be able to go back and undo the damage.

But the truth is that the decisions in your life don't have to be all or nothing.

There aren't only two options, and the options don't have to be limited to

~you succeed and experience joy~

or

~you fail and experience pain~.

Life is fluid.

It is unpredictable and always changing.

And it is resilient.

No single choice is strong enough to make or break your life.

Nothing you choose has to be the end of you.

You can always walk down a different path.

You can always close doors that don't serve you and open new ones that do.

You never have to stay stuck.

There are always options...

Well that's the way I live my life.

I go were I want to go.

I stay where I want to stay.

I steal what I want to steal."

[My back still turned on hear I listened to everything what she said and I could hear her coming closer and closer till she whispered in my ear:]

"I do what I want.

And you should too, my dear."

I turned around and looked into her green eyes that sparkled in this night.

"It would be nice to live that way..."

[She leaned in while putting her hands behind my neck.]

"But I would disappoint him...because he told me that with great power there must also come great responsibilty."

I released myself from her arms and swung through the night.

And it wasn't until I reached my apartement before I gave myself the permission to collapse.

Chapter 17 End.